The region's premier investor of seed stage technology companies in Pittsburgh marks its 12th year this week with a radiant annual report on regional startup growth.
More than 500 people are expected to attend the day long activities underway today at the I
nnovation Works Investor Day and Annual Meeting taking place at the Circuit Center on the South Side. The news is all good.
"Emerging from the recession, it has been a phenomenal year," reports Rich Lunak, CEO of IW. "All of our impact highlights were up from 2010 and many were records. We've had individual stories (of companies) that have made news on a national basis. "
Southwestern Pennsylvania's economic recovery continued to outperform the rest of the nation in key areas as evidenced by the IW 2011 highlights:
• IW has invested $50 million in more than 150 companies that have gone on to raise more than $1.2 billion in follow-on funding during the last 12 years.
• More companies than ever have raised $1 million or more in outside funding.
• A record breaking $218 million in follow-on funding was raised by IW seed fund companies (compared to $193 million raised in 2010).
• A record $1.1 billion in annual revenues was reported by IW-assisted companies.
• $4.9 million was invested by IW in technology companies in 2011 (compared to $4.6 million in 2010).
• 454 jobs were created and retained attributed to IW assistance.
• 65 interns were placed with IW support at regional technology companies.
Angel investment is another strong area of growth. In recent years, the average angel investment round has topped $2 million, with several companies receiving very large rounds.
IW has successfully managed several mentoring programs that are transforming university research and entrepreneurial ingenuity into companies. AlphaLab, i6 Agile Innovation and the University Innovation Grant (UIG) program are attracting national recognition for their work.
In addition, more than 80 mentors, CEOs, executives, industry experts and others are committed to helping IW startups get off and running.
Check out the
IW company videos.
Source: Rich Lunak, Innovation Works